As if we Chicagoans weren’t still traumatized from the Sears Tower incident, another Chicago landmark is getting renamed!The Museum of Science and Industry on the city’s South Side will soon be called “Kenneth C. Griffin Museum of Science and Industry”. We can thank the museum’s board who voted to accept Griffin’s $125 million cash donation Thursday morning for the new name. But could you really blame them since the donation is the largest donation in the institution’s history? If you gave me $125 million dollars, I’d change my name. Honestly, I’d probably change it for $125 but that’s besides the point.If you’re like me, you’ve never heard of Kenneth C. Griffin before. As it turns out, he’s a Chicago philanthropist who founded the hedge fund Citadel. He has also given more than $900 million to educational and cultural causes. Chris Crane, the museum’s board chair, said the money is most likely going into the museum’s endowment, which will more than double as a result. David Mosena, the museum’s president and chief executive officer, said the name change will become official as soon as possible but the necessary paperwork could take a year or more to complete. But let’s be real, if I know Chicagoans, it’s still going to be The Museum of Science and Industry!
This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at UIC chapter.